3 Central Mass. priests defrocked

The Vatican has “laicized” or defrocked three Central Massachusetts Roman Catholic priests who had been accused of sexual improprieties.

Bishop Robert J. McManus said that, as a result of the Vatican’s actions, David Blizard, Thomas Kane and Robert A. Shauris “are no longer in the clerical state.”

According to chancery officials, the Vatican’s Congregation of the Faith decided to oust Mr. Blizard from the priesthood. Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI, before stepping down as pontiff last Thursday, accepted the “voluntary laicizations” of Mr. Kane and Mr. Shauris.

Chancery officials said that the three men may no longer function in any capacity as priests.

The Vatican made the decision to strip the three men of the priesthood late last year but held off announcing anything until the period allowing for appeals expired.

“I ask the Catholic community to join with me in prayer for healing for anyone who has been abused by these men or anyone in the Catholic Church,” Bishop McManus said. “Allow me to echo the poignant words of Cardinal Francis George at the meeting of cardinals in Rome on Monday that ‘The wound is still deep in their hearts and as long as it’s with them it will be with us.’ May we never lose sight of this.”

The bishop urged that anyone who has been harmed by a member of the clergy in any way to contact the diocesan Office of Healing and Prevention at (508) 929-4363.

George Shea, who lives in the area, said he was abused by all three priests. He credited Bishop McManus for the Vatican’s action.

“The bishop had aggressively worked to get these three removed,” Mr. Shea said.

He said he personally met with the bishop shortly after he was appointed by Pope John Paul II to run the Diocese of Worcester.

“I sat across the table and told him my story,” said Mr. Shea, noting the bishop was visibly shaken by the account.

After the bishop told him that he needed someone to testify against the priests in order to pursue the matter in Rome, Mr. Shea said he agreed to provide written testimony that was subsequently delivered to Vatican authorities.

Mr. Shea noted that he also had follow-up meetings with the Worcester prelate.

“He was true to his word,” said Mr. Shea, adding that the bishop acted to remove the three clergymen even as he had a lawsuit pending against the diocese.

Mr. Shauris, who was accused of molesting children in the 1980s, has been on leave from the Diocese of Worcester since 1991.

Sources said he currently is an organist at the First Congregational Church in Leicester. Although church officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday, Mr. Shauris is listed on the church’s website as the organist.

The diocese, in 2002, settled a civil case involving Mr. Shauris that was brought by a Derry, N.H., man and a Deerfield Beach, Fla., man.

The two charged that Rev. Shauris engaged in acts of nonconsensual sex with them in the 1980s, when they were students at St. Bernard’s Catholic High School in Fitchburg.

Mr. Shauris, at the time, was assigned to the school and was a music teacher. He was not specifically named as a defendant in the lawsuit and a stipulation of dismissal in the case was filed July 15, 2004.

In a 2002 interview with the Telegram & Gazette, one of the plaintiffs said the sexual abuse incidents occurred at a residence used by several priests off South Street in Fitchburg.

He said he was shown pornographic films and given alcoholic drinks, including Black Russians. The sexual abuse included fondling and other sexual acts.

He said the sexual improprieties occurred from 1983 to 1985 when he was 14 to 15 years old.

The man said a number of teenage boys visited the residence and that some actually lived there with the priests.

Mr. Shauris was also named with a group of other priests in a confidential settlement agreement of a 1993 lawsuit by a man who accused Mr. Kane of molesting him for several years, beginning when he was 9.